Friday, February 6, 2009

Proverbs 12:6The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,but the speech of the upright rescues them.

There are going to be roughly a million verses about speech in Proverbs and I'm pretty happy about that because I tend to run my mouth. The thing that's interesting about this verse is that it doesn't say who the words are lying in wait for.

Did you notice that? It's easy to assume that it's other people. That the words are going to wound others, but then in the second part of the verse, the consequences of speech are assigned to the speaker, not someone else.

So maybe the first person the words of the wicked are lying in wait for is the person speaking them. Maybe the blood my wicked words want the most is my own. Certainly I've wounded people with my gossip, but I think the person that suffers the most when I speak wickedly is me. That's my blood. I do not escape unscathed when I speak wickedly.

Nearly everyday with my two young children. Through the Spirit, I am being convicted of this more and more, and sometimes before it even comes out of my mouth(small victory). I know there will be victory in this trial, but since I cannot avoid my children, who II dearly love, I am going to grow through this trial and no by avoiding it.

Have I ever not wounded myself with my own words? Who suffers most when I make bad decisions? Usually me. Who is the person I expect the most from? That would be me. Who is the person I am most likely to disappoint? Me again. Whose standards do never live up to? Mine. Who gets injured when I lash out in anger or speak with malice? Mostly me. Who is unworthy of my forgiveness? You guessed it, me. Perfectionism can ruin your day like that. Thankfully, God's attitude about me is very different than mine.

I have this strange disease called Not-Thinking-Before-Speaking-itis. It's very contagious and deadly. It causes word vomit, embarrassment, hurt, and comes with an ugly rash. Unfortunately, it destroys everyone in my way (including myself) and is almost incurable.

I'm really enjoying this study on Proverbs even if I don't get to comment often. I try to pray daily that I will speak to my children and husband w/gentleness and kindness. I have to often practice throughout the day being quick to listen and slow to speak as James says to do.

Oh yes. Not only with my words but I find myself needing a wheelbarrow (funny, I don't think I've ever typed the word wheelbarrow) to hold up and roll around this huge plank I have in my eye all the time. o_O